Exotic Encounters: Krakens by Alex Riggs and Joshua Zaback is a role playing game supplement published by Necromancers of the Northwest for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a nine page PDF which is available from RPGNow for $0.99 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one page is the front matter and one page is the Open Game License.
The Introduction, which takes up the first page of content, explains the aim behind the Exotic Encounters series. Namely, that there are so many different monsters available from many different sources, that attempting to cover them all in bestiaries can sacrifice the depth of each monster for the breadth covered. Also, players who are familiar with the game and have the books may well know what to expect from any monster encountered. This particular supplement covers krakens, providing three new kraken variants that can be released on unsuspecting characters, and which are designed for lower-level encounters than the beast itself.
First up is the CR 8 Barbed Kraken. This has a maddening glare and poisonous barbs, rather than the magical ability and shipwrecking capability of its larger brethren.
The CR 13 Seaquake Kraken creates vortices that can suck ships down into the depths.
Finally, the CR 15 Dominator Kraken is the most powerful in the supplement, yet still below a true kraken. It can project a telepathic field and dominate creatures, and is the most intelligent of the species.
Exotic Encounters: Krakens in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, with all three krakens and the Introduction linked. Navigation is very good for a short supplement. The text maintains a two column format and appeared largely error-free, apart from what appears to be a sentence fragment in the ecology of the Seaquake Kraken. There are sadly no illustrations, but a standard kraken image could do the trick.
The premise behind the supplement is interesting; to create monsters that players are unlikely to be familiar with – and no matter what, it is hard for a player not to let their own knowledge influence their characters – and, in this particular case, to create krakens that can be encountered by other than the most powerful of characters. In this it succeeds. Exotic Encounters: Krakens has a nice selection of three new monsters and it can be found by clicking here.
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